OUR HERITAGE OF THE FRESH WATERS
Photograph by lugene J. Iall
FISHING BELOW NIAGARA FALLS
The Great Lakes constitute a vast inland reservoir of fish life, the annual commercial catch
sometimes exceeding ioo,ooo,ooo pounds.
parison with the continual increase and
improvement in the apparatus of capture.
It takes more and more gear to make
the same catch. In the Great Lakes, our
largest reservoirs of fish food, the invest
ment in the fishery industry now exceeds
$Io,ooo,ooo. The principal fish-catching
devices, such as pound nets, fyke nets,
and gill nets, practically automatic in
operation, are filling day and night as long
as the Lakes are free from ice.
The rivers and lakes of the United
States have fishery resources that are un-
equaled elsewhere. The Great Lakes are
virtually inland seas and the navigable
rivers are among the largest in the world.
The mighty Mississippi, with its tribu
taries reaching in all directions, fairly
dominates the map of the country.
These waters, with the rivers of the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts and many
lakes of the Northern States, have been
enormously productive in food for our
people.
In one year commercial fishermen alone
have taken from the Mississippi River
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